


We Can Have All That We Ever Want

by theshipstorulethemallwrites



Series: Hold The Line [1]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, High School, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Multi, Not Actually Unrequited Love, OT5, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Polygamy, Protectiveness, Team as Family, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-14 17:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10541256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theshipstorulethemallwrites/pseuds/theshipstorulethemallwrites
Summary: 5 Times Someone Thought The Rangers Were Dating and 1 Time They Were





	1. Live For The Danger

The first time someone accuses Jason of dating one of his teammates is actually one of his former teammates, Brad. He’s standing in gym, talking with Zack when he feels a ball wizz by his head. He looks over to see a bunch of his former teammates staring at him in awe. He had done nothing, merely leaned out of the way and then he glances at Zack and sees that his fellow ranger had caught the ball and was now glaring at his old friends. 

“Hey, buddy. Relax”

Zack sighs, looking down at his shoe for a moment and Jason reaches over to grab his shoulder.  He squeezes tight enough that anyone else would probably scream in pain but they have a different tolerance for pain than other people. Jason ideally lets the thought of how that would translate to sex cross his mind but then he remembers that he’s in public and banishes the question to the far corners of his mind.

“It’s ok.” he says, “It’s not like it would have done anything. Hell, it would probably just bounce right off and everyone would be very confused.”

Zack lets out a laugh, low enough that only Jason can hear it but it still jolts him from leader mode. He squeezes one more time and feels the man beside him relax. But that brief reprisal from tension is lost as a guy on the other side of the court yells out.

“Hey, you two going to stop making out and let out us get back to the game?”

Jason straightens up and he notices the way most of the guys immediately take a step back. 

“Jase.” Zack says softly and he turns back to look at the black ranger. The guy looks shaken enough that Jason feels the familiar mixture of rage and protectiveness that comes from anyone coming after his fellow teammates. He’s gotten used to shaking it off, he knows that they are all pretty badass in their own right but he’s still the  _ leader _ . It has to mean something. And Zack is looking at the guys standing in front of them, his former teammates. The guys who were the first to learn about the fact that he is bisexual and refused to judge them. The guys Jason thought were better than this. And Zack looks like he is torn between fighting and running and Jason feels his fingers curl into the fists. The amount of time he’s spent training in the pit with the team, wearing armor or not, has made the motion almost casual, almost normal. 

“They aren’t worth it.” 

He hears Zack say and there’s a tone in his voice that tells Jason this comment isn’t the first time his teammate has been subjected to these types of taunts. Yes, all of four of them know about Trini and somehow that’s made them all more sensitive and on a knife’s edge to comments about sexuality.

“It’s not ok.” Jason spits out, teeth bared into a snarl that he knows resembles Trini’s zord more than it necessarily should considering he is still human.

“Hey, if this is a lover’s spat we can leave?” One of the guys calls out. Jason shuts his eyes as he recognizes the voice of his linebacker, his teammate since he was eight, the guy who’d been his first kiss after a late night drinking, Brad. 

“Shut up.” He hisses out and even Zack takes a step back at his tone. He hears footsteps and until he is nose to nose with Brad he hadn’t realized that they were his. He feels a hand pressed against his back and he knows that it’s Zack, trying to calm him down without words but all that does is set the guys standing before them in a round of hideous laughter and Jason, Jason wants to kill. 

“Red.” Zack mutters in his ear, his nails now digging into Jason’s jeans and  _ shit _ , that shouldn’t send shivers down his spine. His hands clench and unclench in one smooth motion and he turns away. Getting detention for fighting would be the last straw and he was already on thin ice as it was. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, get suspended for letting some idiots opinion of him and his friends cause him to throw a punch. He is the red fucking power ranger for shit’s sake. He’s basically Captain America. He sighs, breathing in deep as he blocks out every sound but that of Zack’s heartbeat and he feels the anger melt away. 

“Let’s go.” Zack mutters, and Jason can feel the nervous energy coiling around Zack’s body. His friend is just as furious as he is and Jason doesn’t quite understand why until they are walking out and he sees Zack glance back at one of the boys, a blonde who had made the first comment, and the pain in his eyes makes Jason want to say screw getting suspended and slam the guy into a wall so hard his teeth fall out. 

The two of them make their way out of the school, only pausing to shoot a text to the group chat to let the others that they are going to the mountains. Once they are out of the parking lot, Jason glances at Zack. He knew that his friend had been picked by Kim that morning. No one really discussed the state of the Taylor’s finances but he didn’t have a car and there were only so many mornings he could use his speed to get to school before someone with authority noticed. 

“I think a run would be good.” Zack offers, shooting Jason the same grin he had that first night of the car and the blond can predict the next words coming out of his friend’s mouth so all he says is, “I’ll win.”

He speeds off and he can Zack calling him a cheater from behind him but all he can do let out a laugh that gets swallowed up by the air as he runs. It’s just a free feeling, running so quickly that city that has caused him so much heartache can be left in the dust. By the time he makes it up the cliff, he is breathing a little bit harder but not much. He hears Zack come up behind him a second later and he accepts the other man’s high five. They are both breathing loud enough that the other can hear and Zack rests his hand against his forehead and breaks into a grin. And it’s beautiful. 

God, his teammates are so beautiful it makes Jason want to scream in agony sometimes. Because the skin and the sweat and the grins that they grant him are enough that he’s been able to observe that the Power also gave him better refraction time. He shakes his head, grabbing his water and drowning a gulp before turning it over his head. Zack looks at him confused for a minute before laughing. 

“We’re just going to get wet anyway aren’t we?” 

Jason nods, flicking water at him. 

“So what do you want?” Zack asks slowly and with a grin that Jason’s just wants to kiss off because it’s so damn cocky. No, he shouldn’t be thinking about kissing them, especially Zack because it’s bad enough that they’ve become his wank material, wanting to date his teammate is just a bad idea. No, it’s worse than the idea with the cow. It would just fuck everything up in a way that they would never be able to come back from. But the words almost come out of his mouth anyway before he bites his teeth down on his tongue hard enough that he feels a spurt of blood. 

“Campfire tonight?” is what he says instead of the words he wants to, the words he almost said anyway.  Which were come over here and kiss me. It’s been too long since they sat in the front of the fire and soaked in each other and the beauty of the planet they’ve been tasked to protect. Kim looks beautiful always but the way she looks illuminated by fire sends shivers down Jason’s spine. He’s such a selfish asshole, as much as he knows that the team needs this, he’s doing it because of the way the rest of team gets in front of the fire, laughing and loose and everything Jason  _ wants _ but refuses to take. 

Zack nods, grinning at him as he says, “You just want my cooking don’t you?”

“You got me.” Jason replies, rubbing his neck with his hand, glad that his reasoning seems sound to his friend. He reaches out and shoves Zack and the two of them fall into fighting stance exchanging jabs and punches until they hear Billy’s voice. 

“You guys have been out here for 4 hours 20 minutes.” 

“Really?” Jason says, pulling off his shirt and wiping his face with it. God, he needed that. 

He puts the shirt down and doesn’t notice the way the rest of the team immediately shut their mouths and move their eyes back to his face. He knows that he is dripping and he’s suddenly glad that they started leaving clothes at each other’s places. It means that while Zack is explaining to the plan to the others he can run over to Kim’s and grab a fresh shirt. He speeds back up the mountain, and when he gets there the rest of team has already started the fire. As he sits in the one of the campfire chairs Trini had grabbed for them, he grins at Zack who hands him one of the s’mores that Kim was making for them. She was the only one to go to summer camp for more than a year and so was the best.

“Starting with dessert?” He asks, grinning as he sees Billy licking marshmallow from his fingertips. 

Trini laughs as she leans back in her chair, drinking a beer. She sees him looking at her and reaches down to grab him one that rests in the ice chest by her feet. He nods in thanks as he sets it down beside him. He loves his team. The sense of peace he feels with them, the understanding, the beauty of the way they all are so comfortable with each other. 

But that moment is nearly broken and he goes back to feeling selfish as he nearly moans in delight as he takes a bit of Kim’s s'more. The rest of the team cracks up, patting Kim on the back as she smirks at him. Kim is as much of risk taker as any of them but the way she’s looking at him makes him stuff the rest of chocolatey treat in his mouth to make his moan about that instead of the image of Kim laughing at him as she straddles him because that’s what the look is making him think of. It’s pure sin, that look, and Jason looks away first, shifting to pull the blanket over his lap and trying to shove away his desires. His eyes turn to Zack who is handing out food to them all, throwing Trini a giant bag of his homemade trail mix and Jason barely manages to catch the bag of buns that the man throws his way. 

They all sit, eating and talking and no one brings up the fact that Jason and Zack skipped out during the last period but sometimes throughout the night Jason catches Zack’s eye and sees a flicker of pain that he wants to understand. They end up deciding to sleep under the stars, curled up and wrapped around each other with blankets tossed around each other’s legs and shoulders. Jason ends up in the middle by some apparent team discussion he wasn’t privy to and he sighs as he rests his head against Billy’s chest, his hand holding Kim’s and Zack is sprawled up against his stomach as his legs are tangled with Trini’s, the yellow ranger snoring softly curled up against Kim. He shares a glance with Kim, the only one he can actually make eyes with, feeling Billy’s hand stroke his hair as the pink ranger tangles her other hand in Trini’s hair and they share a soft smile. Jason thinks this would be enough. Even though he wants  _ more _ , this, this is enough. The stars, his team and the feeling of being wanted sends him off to a peaceful sleep. 


	2. I Just Want to Be Part of Your Symphony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini doesn't think she's enough

Trini knows that she has feeling for Kim, that she wants more than just friendship with her fellow ranger but it takes longer than days to realize that she also wants the guys. She wants Zack’s hands in her hair, she wants to wake up to Billy’s voice, and she wants the feel of Jason’s body protecting her as she drifts off to sleep. 

She’s gotten used to waking up sticky and sweating in the bed that Billy designed for her and Jason built, the sheets that Kim picked out thrown off her body to cool herself down and the note that Zack left beside her after she fell asleep before he had gone home tossed on the pillow. She feels safe with the team and they’ve accepted that with the characteristic observance she’s come to expect. She knows that Jason spearheaded the effort to help make her room feel comfortable again. Rita terrified her enough that even with the team giving her what she needs, she still wants to go to sleep with one of them beside her. It’s as though the sound of their voices, the beating of their hearts has become her lullaby. 

God, she loves her team so much it makes her want to shout to the world in an utterly uncharacteristic display of emotion. But, wow, sometimes she aches for wanting them the way she does. 

It takes a comment, innocent for once, from her mom during dinner that makes her realize that she’s being really fucking obvious about how much she likes her team, about how much she wants them. It doesn’t help that she’s never had to hide a crush from anyone before, slipping around unnoticed by the world sometimes has advantages. Like at her last school when she had a crush on one of the cheerleaders, the one who smiled at her in the hallways, who gave her a pencil once. She’d been able to just stare at her in the hallways, almost follow her around like a puppy because any attention she had gotten from the blonde had made her so happy. It was like the smiles the other girl gave her made her feel like her dreams could come true, she could be loved the way she wants to be loved but instead it was just nothing. But her team, her friends, the people she’s slowly, desperately, falling in love with, they know her. She has to alter her behavior enough that it’s not obvious because in what universe would they ever want her back. In what universe would anyone ever want her because she’s so broken by simply living in this hellscape of an earth that nothing can fix her. And she doesn’t want to be fixed but she’d like to feel whole for even a few hours in a way that only having someone love her can cause. 

“So Trini, are we ever going to actually meet this boyfriend of yours?” Her mom asks and Trini knows that she’s absolutely a goner when her response is almost which one. 

“Hmm.” She says in reply, she almost thinks that her mom is going to follow up with a description of Zack or even Jason. She’s close with all of them in different ways but Billy and her probably spend the most time together without the typical indicators of romantic interest. 

It helps that neither of them are that good with the casual touches that the other three exchange as easy as breathing. Since Billy’s death, she doesn’t like to think about it, but she knows that they’ve all started touching each other more often, just to reassure themselves that the others are still there. It’s a casual brush past in the hallways, lingering longer than normal as Trini pulls the other’s up from where she’s knocked them over during training, but it’s enough that unlike with all her other crushes, the simple touches of the team doesn’t send her heart racing into overdrive. 

She twirls her spaghetti around her fork, that’s another thing Zorden didn’t tell them, that they would need more food now that they had the Power running through their veins. Her mom just accepted it though when Trini asks for thirds, her dad looks at her in bemusement. 

“I think you call him Billy, darling.” Her dad adds and Trini almosts chokes on the pieces of pasta she’s just shoved in her mouth. What? 

Billy, Billy Cranston. Her parents think she’s dating the blue genius and she almost wants to ask why they think that because her parents are some of the most affectionate she knows, though Kim is quickly supplanting them. And that sends a shiver down her spine as she remembers the night before curled up in Kim and just breathing in her scent under the stars. She looks confused as she replies with the answer that she would have given to any name they would have tried to probe her on.

“I’m not dating Billy.” She says, biting down on her lip to prevent herself from admitting that she wants to be. Her parents are normal and they believe in labels and if she dared to say anything about wanting to actually date a guy they would cheer with joy. Deep down, she knows that they want her to date a male because it would make everything easier on her. She knows that they love her but they can’t understand why she can’t simply choose. She kinda wants to go over to Jason’s and curl up in his arms and ask him about coming out. She knows, she always been able to tell when people have crushes, the silent observer that she is. But he hasn’t told any of them yet and she respects that, she not going to drop this bomb on him, yet. She needs to tell someone, she needs to figure what this means that for once her parents are actually being parents and usually she’d go to Zack. Zack, god damn that man to hell for breaking down her carefully built walls with surefire grin and a nickname that still sends butterflies churning in her stomach. No, the black ranger isn’t the right person for this and neither is Kim. Even though her and Kim have a bond unlike any other on the team, falling in love with Kim was the easiest thing she’s ever done and she knows that everything she’s tried to hide and bury would just come out if she’d go over to other girl. Jason would try to give her some advice that would turn out helpful in like five days but not now. 

She notices just how heavy she’s breathing, like she went three rounds with putties alone and she tries to slow down her heartbeat because it feels as though her heart is about to explode. So, she realizes that she has to get out of here, even though it wasn’t a fight with her parents, her heart and her mind seem to be at war over to tell anyone. 

She moves to stand from the table when her mom speaks, “Trini, sit down and tell me what’s going on.”

It’s almost order but the only person she takes orders from is Jason and then she notices her mom’s tone, it’s concerned and soft in a way she can’t recall ever hearing before. 

“Mom, I can’t.” 

She knows that her voice is wobbly and she sounds close to tears but god, this isn’t something that anyone could ever understand. She’s in love with four different people and wow, that’s the first time that that has really hit her. She can feel her lips being pulled into a smile as she lets herself think about what it would be like to be loved in return by them and she needs to get out of here. She needs to leave and go to the ship and let herself scream really loudly. She can’t, she _can’t_.  Letting herself feel this makes it all the more real and she knows that nothing with ever happen. So even as both of her parents reach across the table to try to offer her comfort she needs from someone else, she stands up, grabs her headphones and walks out the door. 

And then she runs, leaping over houses until she lands on top of Billy’s. She knows that he the only who wouldn’t press her to talk but as she glances in she sees Zack setting up a chessboard and she can’t help but smile. She runs on, leaving them to it and quickly checks in on Jason and Kim and she feels like such an fuck up when she leans against the window and takes in how beautiful they look illuminated by the moonlight. And shit, Jason sleeps shirtless when he isn’t with the team and Trini wants to lick off the beads of sweat that glisten on his chest and moving on to Kim’s house is worse. Because the sheets are thrown off Kim and she’s mumbling and all she sleeps in is a bra and underwear and the sight in burned in her mind as she bites back a curse at the thought of Jason and Kim, Kim and Jason and just how attractive they’d be together. The two of them are by far the most confident with their bodies and if Trini didn’t know better she’d say they were deliberately teasing her. The sight of Kim, though, that almost makes her lose her balances and she nearly falls off the balcony.

She breathes a sigh of relief and continues on to her original destination, she doesn’t even say hi to Zordon as she heads down to pit. Alpha follows her and he almost starts talking to her but then he mutters something about “elevated heartrate, you’re terrified of something.” 

She merely glares at him and almost, _almost_ , feels bad about it when the robot spins around in a circle and gives her some putties to destroy. She kicks and punches and she can feel the tension fading from her body but she’s gotten used to doing this with the team and the amount of times she glances around her to exchange a comment with one of the others. She feels like her entire body is on fire and she knows that this is the point that Jason would bodily pick her up like she weighs nothing and force her to sit down. And that thought only makes her confused because it shouldn’t be welcoming, it shouldn’t be comforting to know that even if they don’t love her in the same way she _loves_ them, they still love her in their own way.  She suddenly hears Zordon’s voice and realizes as she lifts herself up from the floor that she’d fought until her body physically couldn’t handle it. 

“Trini, you must go to school.” 

He booms and she nearly flips him off, going into the alcove where the team has taken to storing clothes for when they’ve had a late night. She strips off her sweaty clothes and wanders to the shower, she knows she’s the only one here, she never would have been so brazen otherwise. When she gets out she goes back to the alcove and realizes that she only has a shirt and undergarments left from the last late night she’d had a few weeks ago. Frowning as she peruses through the clothes, she grabs a pair of Kim’s shorts, Zack’s beanie and yep, that’s Jason’s letterman jacket.  _ Shit _ , that’s going to cause the school to talk but no one else left a jacket and she knows that it’s going to be cold. And whatever, the school is already talking about the five of them anyway. She could just text one of them to grab her jacket but that would lead to questions about where she was and Billy, especially, is uncomfortably good at getting her to talk when she doesn’t want to. The blue ranger just sits by her and waits for crack, it’s frustrating but then she remembers she left her leather jacket at Jason’s house after the two had gone out dancing after a battle with a new monster. There’s so much excess energy post battle and she can only use her viberator and go down to the pit enough times before it stops working well. She grabs her phone and texts him saying that she found his letterman and she’d trade it for her leather. Jason’s response text is a series of emojis and she laughs at how much of a dork he is. 

God, how it is possible that this jacket is so comfortable and knowing that Jason’s last name scrawled across her back only causes her to smirk. Finally, she’s going to get payback for the amount of times Jason has made her flustered even during fucking battle when he shoots her a devilish grin and just. 

Why is Trini cursed by her team and by her heart. This is the just worst and she runs to school, trying to blame the run for her restless heart when she knows that it’s her own wants.

She notices the look she gets from Jason as she arrives and they trade jackets. On anyone else she’d think it was desire, the way his eyes darken at the sight of her wearing his jacket but no, Jason doesn’t want her. None of them do and she’s going to live with having them wrapped around her and caring about her but not loving her. 


	3. It's Not Just In My Head, Is It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy deals with Alpha's suspicions

Billy always knew that he found both men and women attractive but the quickness that what he feels for his team has morphed into more than simply desire and appreciation for their physical form shocked even him. And none of this helped by the amount of touching the team does around him, Jason’s hands slapping his back after a particularly grueling training session, Zack resting his leg against his during class and Trini and Kim both can’t stop touching him whenever they see him. Kim, especially, has taken to kissing his cheek and god how that confuses the shit out of him. He knows that amount the rest of the team touches him has both to do with their personalities and the fact that he died. 

Thankfully, he doesn’t remember anything about being dead. He suspects that the Morphin Grid took away his memory of that time but he remembers dying, he remembers his lungs filling with water and he remembers most of all the terror of the screams he heard from his teammates. They don’t talk about it. But he knows that what happened affected them more than they are telling him because the way they are concerned terrifies him. 

It came to a head when Trini had almost died when she thrown herself in front of a sword that almost sliced his head off. Risks are part of the job but the sight of Trini, quiet, dependable, beautiful Trini, bleeding on the grassy hill had caused Jason to completely shut out any emotion. He still remembers the way Kim had screamed when Trini had fallen and he’d been paralyzed to do anything. Jason had walked over and simply killed the monster in such a brutal fashion that no one likes to think he is capable of. The protectiveness the team has over him was as full display that day because after Jason had screamed at Trini until he was horse, Trini’s first question had been, “Is Billy ok?” 

Billy had found himself wrapped in a giant ball of Trini who literally flung herself at him when she caught sight of him, shaken but fine. 

He shakes himself away from that memory as he wanders down to the pit. He knows very well that he isn’t the only one of his team to come down here and get out of his own mind for a bit. He really doesn’t want to deal with all these emotions and trying to figure out what his teammates are trying to tell him. This is one of reasons he finds being autistic frustrating because he knows that he’s not the only one feeling things for his teammate but he doesn’t understand if what Trini is doing, wearing their clothes, is a joke or she’s actually trying to kill him. He’s seen the looks that Kim gives Trini and he’s known the pink ranger since they were kids, he knows how she is with a crush. 

He sighs, scuffing his shoes against the rock and his eyes pass over the marks that Jason had scratched into the rock during Rita. He refuses to study it for long, those aren’t memories he likes to think about even if he did morph the first time down here. He understands that he did it because he loves his team but he was also super terrified of losing them. He can’t lose them. They’re the only friends he has ever had in this way, the non-judging, understanding, way that goes beyond just intelligence and he’s not going to lose them because he wants  _ more _ . 

He wants kisses and hand holding and laughter late at night but he doesn’t want to lose what he already has. 

He gets into fighting stance but then realizes that Alpha hasn’t arrived. He moves to call down the robot until he hears from a shadowed corner, “Master Billy?”

“Yes, Alpha” He calls back and the robot walks out, head spinning around as he spots Billy.

“Master Billy!!! Ay-Yi-Yi” Alpha says, and Billy realizes that it’s been a few days since he’s been down here, even with the team. And Alpha had spent so much time alone, so many millions of years, that a few days without his company must have seen longer than just a few days. 

Billy decides that instead of doing what he planned, which was asking Alpha to make him some putties and leave him be, he would spar with his friend. 

“Would you spar with me Alpha?” he asks, grinning as he sheds his jacket. 

“It’s been awhile since one of you has sparred with me,” Alpha comments, bowing to Billy as they begin. The jabs and kicks and whirls and spins all create a dance that Billy enjoys because all concerns about his emotions melt away. That is until Billy takes the upper hand and Alpha comments, and Billy knows that if he was human he would be smirking, “In fact the last one to do so was your lover.” 

And with that, Billy nearly falls over because in what universe does Alpha understand human behaviors and human interactions. Are some of his teammates dating without him knowing? 

No. No, that wouldn’t happen, that _couldn’_ t happen. They wouldn’t do that, not with their protectiveness over him, not with the amount of time they spend together. 

“Ha!” Alpha crows when he falls over with a well time jab to his chest and he wonders where the robot learned to do a victory dance, it was probably Zack, that sounds like something the black ranger would do. 

“My lover?” he asks, setting down his water. 

“Oh, yes. Jason.” 

“Alpha, I’m not dating Jason.” 

“Really?”

Alpha sounds as incredulous as a robot can be and Billy is very confused. 

“Why do you think so?” he demands. 

“Trini was down here last night and she spent most of it ranting about how Kim keeps touching her and ‘those asshole deserves some payback for the frustration they put me through on a nightly basis’ so clearly touching is a common thing with partnering in humans and Jason does touch you constantly, master Billy.”

Billy shakes his head, laughing, “No, Alpha, Jason is just a touchy person.”

He knows that if Alpha could he’d be raising an eyebrow right now but he just shrugs it off. He stands up, taking the fighting stance and Alpha creates some putties for him. He raises an eyebrow at the robot and the only explanation offered is “You look like your lover did last Sunday”

Billy simply sighs, realizing that the nickname Alpha just gave Jason will now stick before he turns the putties. He decides that he’ll tire out more easily if he doesn’t morph. It’s also always good to get some practice with moves in human form. He turns and begins fighting, taking a break after a while and sitting down. He notices that Alpha has left him alone and sighs, he needs to talk to someone about this. About what he’s feeling, the fact that his heart seems to explode out of his chest every time one of the rangers smiles at him. It’s more than he ever thought he’d ever get. And still he wants more. 

“Hi Dad, so I know I should talk to mom about this, seeing she’s around and all but she won’t. She won’t understand. The two of you never loved anyone but each other and yet I love four other people in the very same way. God, Dad, if only you could meet them you understand that in this my heart was moving faster than my mind, that I truly didn’t have a choice but to fall in love with them. And dad, you never said how you realized that mom liked you back? Was I too young to know? Because right now I need you to tell me. I need to know how the Cranston men get the loves of their lives and I know from the stories about my grandparents that our family only really ever falls in love once. What if they’re it for me? What if they don’t want me back? They don’t do they? I mean I’ve seen the way Kim and Trini act around each other, and Jason and Zack, dad, they are so much worse. I can’t be the odd man out, I _can’t_.”

Billy shakes his head, noticing that water seems to fling off in his aggressive head shake and realizes that at some point during the conversation with his dad, he’d starting crying. Because that’s his worst fear really, that what he has with the others is temporary and that they’ll move on and he’ll be left behind wishing for what they used to have. He couldn’t be able to be handle that, that would be worse than actually dying and he should know, he has actually died. 

He stands, noticing that even though he stopped fighting, Alpha didn’t turn off the simulation and so the putties have been multiplying. He grins savagely, the others don’t really understand that for Billy, violence only comes out when he’s afraid or protecting them, and he protects them because he’s scared about losing them. As he morphs, he feels free destroying all of these foot soldiers like they are gnats and he only wishes he could do the same to his fear. If only, he thinks, as he crushes one of the putties before throwing the arm he’d torn off into another putty in his path, if only he knew where he stood with his teammates. If he knew, he’d be able to deal, he hates not knowing. He knows that there’s both a hesitancy and yet a longing in the way he touches his team and he wishes he understood which why they’d prefer. And this all especially sucks because he’s gotten used to them touching him, in fact he finds he welcomes it and it’s clear that the others don’t understand what he is trying to tell them. That he loves them, that he wants more, that they have all of him, even the parts he doesn’t like to give people. 

He’s torn from his bad mood when he hears Alpha come out of nowhere saying, “Master Billy, your lover is here.” 

Billy very nearly gets the wind knocked out of him by a putty. And oh how he wants to murder the little robot but he settles for yelling denials at Alpha. This of course means that as he’s spluttering out variations of the word no is when Jason walks in. His leader is wearing the same carefree grin he wears and Billy can’t decide if he wants to punch the grin off of Jason’s face or just kiss him. It’s a constant struggle with Jason in particular because damn, the man is handsome and he knows it. It’s very very frustrating.  He settles for glaring at the ground and Jason walks up and squeezes Billy’s shoulder. And at that single touch the anger seems to float away. Jason looks confused though, as he looks between Billy and Alpha. He laughs a little, ugh that should not make Billy’s heart race, at the way that Billy is staring at Alpha. A look of horror and disgruntlement that is foreign on Billy. Jason turns to Billy and offers with a smirk, “Spar with me?” 

Billy nods grinning, before sharply inhaling a breath as Jason removes his shirt. It feels wrong, ogling but damn does Jason make it easy. 

“Sure thing Jason.” Billy mutters, removing his shirt as well because turnabout is fair play and the comments from the girls have been that he’s gotten quite fit over the past few weeks. 

“Alpha would you?” Jason asks. 

“I’m going to leave.” is all Alpha says in response, shutting off the putties with what would be a smirk and leaving the room. Now Billy really wishes he could strangle the robot because that, that was a suggestion laden innuendo and Alpha could have only learned that from Kimberley fucking Hart. Billy groans aloud at the thought of Kim teaching Alpha these things and wonders which deity has cursed to be in love with such public menaces. They are all incredibly dangerous to Billy’s health. Further proven by Jason not even bowing to him just simply walking up to him and throwing a hook that Billy blocks. He laughs and feels lighter than he has for hours. As long as he gets to keep this for the rest of his life, Billy thinks that it should be enough. 


	4. You’re too good for me but I want you anyways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim's worst fears come out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for real the feedback on this story is making my entire week. I've had such an gigantic grin on face reading all your comments. Thank you so much, seriously!

Kim thinks being in love with her teammates would be easier if she didn’t feel so unworthy of them. She wishes sometimes that she could take back more than just the picture and the aftermath of them because her own brokenness, it started long before that. It started when she went the camp where she learned how to make the perfect s’more, when she fell for one of her cabin mates, a beautiful girl who’d she’d never see again. But in the haze, in the lust of a first crush, she’d shared it and shared it and before she knew it, everyone knew.  _ Everyone _ . And it hadn’t been the knowing that had caused her to bury this part of herself, it had been the way that everyone looked at her differently, treated her differently. She was no longer the same. And god it had hurt so much, even more than falling in love with her team because she knows that she’s bound in blood and fire with them, that she’ll never have to face the soul crushing moment where she loses them. She thinks that’s why she sent the picture in retrospect, she wanted to break ties before Amanda broke her. It doesn’t excuse what she did, not one bit, but knowing the reason makes it easier to pick up a razor in the shower. 

And none of this is helped by the fact that she knows exactly what’s it like to kiss Jason Scott, she knows just how good the red ranger is with his tongue and his fingers and she knows what’s it like to lose him. And she lost him when they barely meant anything to each other, when it was just in the aftermath of a seven minutes in heaven where they’d become hookup buddies. Losing him now, losing the guy who understands her in a way that none of the others can because he was where she was once and they both fell from grace, that would break her completely. So she stays silent, she lets her mind take her to places that she’s refused to go for years because letting herself dream hurts too much.

And she drives Zack to school, singing along to the radio and letting him give her compliments that make her smile so big her face hurts. That had been Jason’s one order outside of battle, that her or Billy would drive Zack at least a few times a week. Billy had been confused, his mom’s car was still a wreck at that point but Kim had done something about the car issue and after that the three of them drew up a schedule. She loves this, this commondrary, this trust and she loves how utterly unapologetic and wonderful her teammates are. So she ends up treasuring the time she spends with Zack, singing loudly to the most popular songs as Zack mimes playing a guitar. She knows what she’s getting him for his birthday and she remembers enough from the late nights with Jason back in the sophomore year that the red ranger plays the drums. She honestly sometimes thinks that they could totally start a band but first they have to save the world. She drops Zack off like normal, sees Billy waiting and the two of them disappear into school. She sighs, she has her first class alone because she’d made her schedule when she was still on the cheer squad and so was with Amanda and Christina for History, regular unlike Jason who is a nerd and is taking AP Gov with Trini. Speaking of the yellow ranger, she’s surprised to see her walking through the parking lot, head down and looking like she wants to turn invisible. As much as Kim wishes sometimes, that’s not part of the Power Perks™. 

“Hey Trini.” she calls out, rolling down the window and smoothly pulling into the parking spot right next to the girl. She hops out, grabbing the jacket she’d stolen from Billy the night before and shrugging it on over her pink tank top. 

“Hi, Kim.” Trini says, sliding her arm through Kim’s and talking animatedly about the prank her brothers had pulled on her mom the night before. Kim takes the moment to stare at how beautiful her friend is, to memorize the easy way she speaks and wishes that she felt worthy of being loved by a girl like Trini because how glorious would that be. Once they get into school, they’ll have to part and Kim savors the moments she gets with her team members individually. It’s not that she loves any of them more than the others but the moments she gets where she’s the center of attention, where she’s their  _ focus _ , for one moment she stops feeling like she’s nothing. And she wishes that she could always feel like she’s worthy but the minute she walks away from Trini and into history class, that feeling she gets from being with the team is literally sapped from her body. She stands for a moment, she’s still next to Amanda, she doesn’t want to sit next to her. Next to the girl who cut her heart up even more than she believed it could be. Then she hears laughter, mocking laughter, the kind that follows her everywhere because she got drunk and spilled to Clare that sometimes when she was making out with Trey she wished it was Amanda. The kind that haunts her dreams as much as Billy’s death and Jason’s kisses do.  The type of laughter that puts even Rita to shame and she shivers, wrapping the jean jacket tighter around her shoulders, as she turns to see Trini giving her a thumbs up and a grin in solidarity. 

The fact that they all took her side still shocks her because telling the team about what she had done had been the hardest she’d ever done because she  _ knew _ that there was a possibility she could lose them. Even though Jason had been holding her hand the entire time, telling the others how much of a bitch she could be had been so difficult that she’d been forced to look up at the night sky as she explained. She didn’t deserve them for so many reasons and in so many ways but the fact that after all of them hadn’t looked at her differently was one of the biggest. Kim knows that the others know that there is something she’s not telling them but they don’t press. If they wanted to know sooner than she necessarily wanted to tell them, they’d send Zack over and just have him spend the night. For some reason, even though Jason understands the most, Zack is the person who can get her to talk when she doesn’t want to, 

She grins back, weakly but it’s still a smile and Trini looks like she wants to fight someone but eventually turns away.  The mocking laughter grows louder as she slides into her seat, grabbing her notebook and opening it up. She turns to her page of history notes, smiling softly as she realizes that the guys had drawn all over the blank page. She knows that the stick figure drawing of two guys in top hats is Jason and the colorful lighting bolt is Billy so the elaborate drawing of the scales of justice must be Zack. All of it is so typically them that she chuckles and for some reason her classmates take that as permission to start speaking to her, well Amanda does at least. 

“That your girlfriend?” She asks and if Kim didn’t know better she’d say that her former friend was actually curious.

Kim doesn’t respond, wishing for a second that she had long hair again so it could block her face from Amanda, because Amanda sees the frown on her face and her smile widens. 

“Oh Kimmy, poor delusional Kimmy. No one’s ever going to want you.” 

Kim shakes her head, wanting to shove headphones in her ears the way Trini seems to do, because Amanda is like a shark and she’s officially smelled blood in the water. 

“Shut up.” She whispers, trying hard to keep her voice steady because of course Amanda, of course the girl she’s been friends with since she was 10, would be able to stab her quickly and ruthlessly. The countless sleepovers cross through Kim’s mind and she wants to cry because of course what she said in the dead of night, when she whispered out her greatest fear is now being used against her. 

“Shut up.” She says, without looking at Amanda, she knows the girl well enough that she was going to say something.

“What are you going to do? make me? The girl taunts, a cruel smirk playing on her face as she whispers, “kiss me the way you want to to get me to stop talking?”

At that Kim stands, her fists curled and she knows that she looks like a storm. In what universe did she ever think she could want the girl standing before her? The one who seems like dirt compared to the stars that are her teammates. 

“Shut the fuck up.” She hisses out, stepping closer to Amanda and slowly bringing her fist up. She isn’t forced to remember Zordon’s rule though because right then is when Mr. Bunner, their history teacher strides in. 

“Ms. Hart.” He says, frowning at her and that’s when Kim realizes what it looks like. The rest of the classroom slowly fades back into focus and she can hear the chanting of fight from the rest of the idiots that she shares a school with. 

She sighs, turning to face Mr. Bunner who continues by saying, “Detention.” 

With that all the girls on the cheer team erupt into hideous laughter and Kim swiftly ducks her head, gritting her teeth as she texts the group chat that she got detention.

As she tries to listen to Mr. Bunner explain the politics of a country slowly going to hell even though her phone keeps vibrating. She sees a frown from Jason and then a meme from Zack that makes her smile. She ideally takes notes and then as she reviews them at the end of class she realizes that it is some notes but also some lyrics scrawled in the margins about always being in love and never being loved in returned. She shuts her notebook and walks out, seeing Jason loitering by her locker. 

“Hi.” She whispers and he immediately pulls her into a hug, his hand stroking her hair as she shudders in his arms.

“What happened?” He says, serious and low and Kim just shakes her head because telling means she’d tell everything and she can’t mess up what they have. She won’t risk her heart again, she couldn’t handle it if it went to shit the way everything else in her life has turned out. 

Trini wanders over, taking in the two of them and standing close enough that her head rests against Jason’s chest. 

“Was it Amanda?” She asks, her mouth curled in a thin line and Jason frowns, breaking eye contact with Kim to glare at the cheerleaders watching them. 

Kim nods and both Trini and Jason curse in response. 

“They have to leave you girls alone or I’m going to be forced to do something.” Jason hisses out, his hand clenching into a fist and dear god, protective Jason shouldn’t set her entire body on fire but it _ does _ . Kim lets out a deep breath, reaching down and tracing Jason’s arm with her nail and she can feel the goosebumps that appear on his skin. Wait, Jason had been referring to both of them, and with that Kim feels herself grow angry as she reaches over to Trini. She grabs Trini’s hand and asks her, “What did they do to you?”

Trini finally finally meets her eyes and the pain in the yellow ranger’s eyes nearly has Kim turning around and slapping her former teammates. 

“Nothing.” Trini says and she knows the other girl well enough that she knows she’s lying. But none of them pressed her so she doesn’t press but Trini had clearly told Jason and that hurts more than Kim expecting it to.

“They cornered her in the parking lot and called her some really despicable names.” Jason spits out and just as he says that is when Billy and Zack join them. Zack is first to notice the way Trini has her head down so he shoots her a blinding grin and tucks a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Hi, want me to beat their asses, crazy girl?”

Trini laughs and just like that Kim can feel the weight in her chest lighten, she’s just so beautiful. They all are, laughing because they know that ultimately Zack means it and because Trini’s laughter is euphoric. 

As they all walk to their next class, arms wrapped around each other, talking and laughing, Kim thinks this could be enough. She knows that she could be fine with just having them like this, banishing her darkness with their light. 


	5. No Turning Back Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zack's mom forces Zack to confront and confirm how much the rangers want each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more chapter after this but keep a eye on this series as I have a least 3 more stories planned. Thank you so much for all your comments and kudos, they truly made my week.

Zack bolts awake to the knock on the door, his feet immediately falling into a fighting stance and his hand reaching out to grab a knife. It’s only because he hears the rhythmic tapping of the second knock that he knows it’s Kim. It’s 7:15am, he realizes, glancing at the clock on the wall as he pads towards the door. She’s early. Did something happen?

Before he opens the door, he peaks in his mom’s room, breathing a sigh of relief when he sees the rise and fall of her chest. He opens the door to his teammate, grinning easily as he takes her in. She’d been upset yesterday but there were no bruises on her hands to indicate that she slammed her fists into the wall, _again_. He worries about her, about her anger and how short a fuse it seems to have in regards to them.

“Hi, Hart.” He says, letting her step through and she easily settles on the counter where Zack has provisions for their weekly campfire ready to be put in the basket. She places the bread that she’s brought on the counter and Zack tosses her the peanut butter and jelly.

“Hey, Taylor. Classic today?” Kim responds, smirking as she steals a piece of chocolate from the counter. For some reason that has become their nickname for each other, their last names. Kim looks down and sees the tray with the pills and the startings of a breakfast and takes in Zack’s attire. He knows he is shirtless and he can barely contain a smirk as he notices how Kim’s eyes linger on his lower half.

Zack nods, letting out a chuckle as he brushes past her as he moves to grab a few eggs and some cheese from the fridge. He can feel her shiver and he thinks it might mean something but if he actually lets himself admit what he’s feeling, then he’s screwed. He already lost Billy, he knows that even if his mom is getting better, her time is still running out. Losing any of them, any of the team that know him in his soul, that would bury his heart permanently.

“Do you want any help?” She asks, something close to pity in her eyes as they settle on the four bottles of pills.

He shakes his head, this is too private, it’s become too much of a ritual for him for anyone else to do. She nods, offering him a microscopic smile as she finishes off the candy bar.

“Chocolate for breakfast, really Hart?”

“At least I have breakfast, Taylor.”

Zack chuckles at that, grabbing the tray and placing the eggs on a plate.

“Would you? He asks, gesturing to the flowers lying near a mini vase. She nods, humming under her breath. He thinks it could be a song from Ed Sheeran's new album, he knows that Trini had given Kim her headphones to use in detention and he also knows that Kim, when separated from the rest of them, uses touchstones to feel like they are with her. He’s gotten a glance at her phone more than once, and he figures that since she had Trini’s headphones, and Billy’s jacket, she was either listening her playlist for him or their reckless leader. Now he knows that she was listening to her Jason playlist. Jason, in part because he’s a dork and in part because of his little sister, loves love songs.

She places the flowers in the vase with a grin, kissing his cheek quickly as she sits back down, popping a spoonful of peanut butter in her mouth. He smiles a little, blushing where she kissed him. The easy ability Kim and Jason have at touching them makes him really happy because he thought they would be the most hesitant, no that would be Trini. As he picks up the tray, he can barely hear Kim whisper, “god, you’re such a _good_ man.”

He knows that as he walks into his mom’s room, he is grinning like a loon. His team understanding why he does this makes him feel warm inside.

“ 你 好   妈 (hi mom).” He greets her with a smile, handing her the water. She’s stronger than she was but he still worries, she was so sick for so long. He knows that the gods granting him the team and his mom is a miracle because they have been so cruel to him for so long.

“ 她是你的对象吗? (that your girlfriend)?” She asks when she finishes the pills and Zack glances behind him to see Kim leaning against door, a soft smile she tries to hide when she notices that they have seen her.

“其中之一。(one of them).” He blurts out, immediately blushing bright red as his mom lets out a laugh so boisterous that even though he’s stuttering and stammering like a shocked kid he can’t help but smile. His mind is nothing but a mess of denials and curses. She reaches out and pats his arm, hand tightening as he moves to leave.

“你爱他们 (you love them)” Jia says, it’s not a question but a statement and Zack thinks to all the times he’s talked about his friends with his mom, the soft worries falling from his lips when he thought she was asleep. He only nods once, his face almost blank as he tries to shove down the doubt, the pain of giving his heart to people who are in love with each other. But who couldn’t possibly be in love with him. His mom reaches up to ruffle his hair and he collects the tray once again. As he steps out of the room, he hears call after him, “他们也爱你。 (they love you too).”

His mom is saying _this_. His mom who is famously good at reading people, his mom who is never wrong. It’s like the axis of the world shifts in the moment and he finds himself standing in the doorway between who he used to be and who he could be, shellshocked and shaken. Kim can see him from where she is packing everything up in the basket.

“Zack, you alright?” She asks him, voice concerned as she walks over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He glances back towards his mom and she smiles and nods. That’s it, this is where he lets the weeks of secret keeping and late nights take their toll and he’s the one to ruin everything that they are slowly building together. But Kim is looking at him with such worry in her gaze, smile turning into a frown the longer he stays silent. He takes a breath, worrying about his mom is bad enough, having the others worried about him when they don’t have to, would not be good. He doesn’t want to be burden to anyone so all he says is, “fine.”

Kim looks at him, and the look makes him want to tell her everything because she knows that he’s lying but then they are all lying about something right now. Something has shifted in the group and unless someone does something they will fracture.

She nods, letting him keep his silence and he puts the basket in the back of the car. It’s a mom van and it makes him laugh sometimes because Jason had told the others what Kim had said about vans right before Billy’s explosion.

They drive in silence for the first time in ages but unlike the first few times she’d driven him places, it doesn’t feel uncomfortable. Zack is able to see the others waiting for them and he shouts out the window to say hello.

The two of them jump across the water to meet them and how it is that even with suits, these types of moments are still the most exhilarating. Kim lands her feet, effortlessly while Zack nearly stumbles into the water below.

“Hi guys.” Jason greets them with a smile, gesturing to the caravan that is their entrance, “Shall we?”

All of them nod expect Trini who groans.

“What is it, crazy girl?”

“I already took a shower this morning.” She responds, gesturing to her wet hair pulled into a braid.

“But was it cold?” Billy asks her, smirking as he grabs Kim’s hands and the two of them backflip into the water.

“Yes.” Trini hisses out, and Zack can barely contain a chuckle. He knows exactly how she feels, training with the team more often than not he ends up dragging himself home and shoving the shower on freezing to try to calm himself down.

“Showoffs.” Jason scoffs and he looks towards Trini and Zack again, noticing the stares that seem to be being exchanged between the two rangers. He nods his head towards the water and Zack takes a deep breath. The dark terrifies him ever since Goldar had pushed them into the burning fire and everything had gone dark. Trini reaches over and squeezes his hand, whispering “together.”

He nods, trying to calm his racing heart as he grips Trini’s hand and they plunge down into the water, wind rushing in their ears.

“You good, Zack?” Jason asks him as he comes up for air, studying the way they still seem to glow and god was that his salvation the first time they’d come here after Rita. The fact that the others’ lights could guide him, could calm him had been the only reason he’d been able to make it to the ship. He shoots the red ranger a thumbs up, waiting for Kim to dive below so he can follow her light. They make it to the ship, soaked and dripping as their shoes squeak against the tiled floors.

“Sparring or Zords?” Jason asks, though he knows exactly why they’ve been avoiding the Zords. The feedback loop had nearly broken them all, even though the megazord had been insanely awesome.

“Sparring.” They answer as one immediately. He nods, starting the now familiar walk towards the Pit.

“Alright, we’re going to be facing each other today instead of putties. So Kim, I want you to spar with Trini and Billy, and Zack, you’re going to fight me.”

Kim looks between Trini and Billy slightly confused, and it is an odd combination so Jason explains, “Look, you’re the best at the dodging and adapting and I think that working against Trini’s aggressive fighting style and Billy’s observant style would be good for the three of you.”

They all nod, immediately falling into fighting stance and god as much as the putties give them a good work out, fighting against each other is something that they _relish_.

Trini has Kim pinned down, both of them breathing heavily as Billy lays on his side, pulling himself up to sit. The fight between Zack and Jason had ended rather quickly, Zack too distracted from what his mom had said earlier to put much effort into it.

“Let’s switch it up.” Jason orders and Trini pushes herself off Kim, sweat streaking down to her bra and Zack tries not to stare. He notices with a small smirk that Kim isn’t even hiding her lust for the yellow ranger. Jason helps pull Billy up, taking a swig of water and tossing in to Zack. Jason grins turning to Kim and saying, “Kim will spar with me and Trini with Zack, Billy you look a bit winded so I’m going to have you sit this one out.”

Billy moves to protest Jason’s absurd protectiveness but as he moves to the rocks, he finds himself stumbling. He sighs, grabbing a notebook from the pile of bags left sitting in the corner for when Jason forces any of them to take a break. Zack knows that somewhere in those bags in the enormous biography of Hamilton that Jason is working his way through, the utter nerd.

Kim smirks, though it fades when Jason takes off his shirt and Trini lets out a low whistle as she drags her eyes up and down their leader’s toned chest.

“Ready when you are, superstar.” Kim says, her voice taking on a tone that if Zack didn’t know any better he’d call desire.

The curse that Jason mutters in response isn’t at all quiet and his movements seem jumpy, shuffling back and forth on the balls of his feet. Zack grins at Trini and the two of them join their fellow rangers in the Pit. Zack knows well enough that the only one to actually follow the proper rules of battle is Billy even though all his martial arts education screams at him to bow before he lunges at Trini. She swerves on her feet, leaning to the side and he goes tumbling into the floor. While he’s getting up, his eyes sweep around the room stopping for a brief second on the way Kim is straddling Jason, his hands grasping her hips with so much familiarity it makes him take a deep breath. He knows that the two of them had known each other, it’s a true cliche that cheerleaders and sports stars run in the same circles but this, the look that passes between them that feels like Zack is being set aflame, is new. The look lasts all of a second before Jason shoves Kim off, both of them breathing heavily as Kim backflips out of the range of Jason’s sweeping kick. They both laugh the tension that seemed to permeate the room evaporating. Zack goes to back to concentrating on beating Trini but he’s finding it difficult and then she pins him down for the fourth time in 10 minutes.

“That’s a new record, you’re a bit off your game today Zack.” she comments, keeping her elbow pressed into his chest for a second before getting off him and going to grab a water.  He sighs, he knows that he and Trini are good sparring partners because they hype each other and it’s a little worrying that he spent most of the fight analyzing the way she looked at him instead of trying to predict her next moves.

"Distracted today, Zack?" Jason teases, rubbing a towel over his neck and forehead, with a shit eating grin on his face and Zack wants to tackle both his teammates and kiss them until they can't say anything but his name.

Zack sighs and Jason takes that as a yes.

“Ok, we’re going to take a break and do some team bonding by going to the bowling alley and seeing if we are able to not crush any of the balls today. We’ve also been down here all day”

They all laugh at his phrasing, and Jason groans, muttering, “Why are the defenders of earth such eight year old boys? Even my sister is more mature than you.”

Kim just jumps on Billy’s back the two of them making their way back towards the water, even though she flips Jason off.  Zack pauses, gesturing for Jason and Trini move along as he bends to pretend to tie his shoe. But Trini doesn’t leave instead as he stands, taking his face in her hands and asking seriously, “What’s wrong?”

Zack finds that he can’t refuse Trini when she’s asking him to open up to her. It took her so long to open to them that he needs to give her honesty in return. But he struggles to start because he knows that when he starts talking he won’t be able to stop. However, his hesitation makes her turn away but once the question got asks he feels the deep desire to speak. He doesn’t realize that Jason is standing just slightly out of view but still in earshot as he starts the monologue that will change everything.

“What’s _wrong_ ? What isn’t wrong? I have you guys but it still isn’t enough for me and I don’t know why I want more. Ok, that’s a fucking lie because I know exactly why my heart is split into four different pieces with each one beating to the sound of your name. I know that it’s because of your power and your passion and your incredible kindness that I couldn’t help but fall in _love_ with all of you. And you guys, you guys don’t want me in that way and I _get_ it. I understand that..”

He is cut off from trying to rationalize his feelings by Jason coming out of the shadows, walking over to him and spinning him around. There’s a second and Zack nearly falls at the intensity in the look of Jason’s eyes as the red ranger crushes his lips against his. Zack’s mind goes completely blank because _Jason_. Jason is kissing him. And Zack is so shocked by this turn of events that he doesn’t respond and then they hear a shout.

“Get off him, Jason.” Trini hisses out, her hands balled into fists and if her eyes could Zack knows that they’d flash with fire. They break apart, and the look in Jason’s eyes, the apology almost on his lips makes Zack step in. He can’t, won’t, hear Jason apologize for kissing him.

“Crazy girl, it’s fine.” He says softly, stepping between the two of them in part because Trini looks like she’s going to pummel Jason and Jason looks like the idea of him forcing a kiss on Zack is making him sick.

“No it’s not.” She screams, trying to shove past him, “It’s not ok at all.”

Zack shakes his head, stepping closer to Trini and cupping her face in his hands and pressing a kiss on her lips. It’s light, almost hesitant and then she melts into it. She kisses back, her hands moving to his hair, pulling on the still bedheaded waves. He groans, still keeping the kiss chaste enough until Jason comes up behind him and nips at his pulse point. He pulls away from Trini at that to lift Jason’s head up and kiss him, this time both of them fully into it.

It’s _everything_ , though there is something missing and he hears a “wow” coming from the corner somewhere. Jason breaks the kiss, relinquishing him back into Trini’s embrace to go over to Billy and bring him over. Jason kisses Billy softly, cradling his face in his hands as they remain wrapped in each other. Trini reaches over to grab Jason’s shirt and pull them closer. One of Zack’s hands moves from Trini’s waist to rest on Billy’s shoulder but the moment is broken when they hear something shatter. The pink ranger is standing there, watching them with an absolutely heartbreaking expression on her face and Zack immediately breaks the kiss with Trini. He hears Trini’s groan behind him and knows that she must have been swept up into Billy and Jason’s arms but right now, his focus is Kim. He gets to her and his fingers wipe away the tear that seems to threaten to fall.

“Hey, Kim. I want _you_ ok?” He whispers, bending down so his lips hover over hers and then she reaches up to grasp the back of his neck and pull him closer until they are kissing, softly, tenderly and Zack tries to put all of his love for her into the kiss. She needs to know that she is part of this, that she is worthy of what he’s giving her, of what they all want to give her. Billy’s voice breaks through the haze of dreams coming true and hearts slowly piecing themselves back together.

“We should talk about this.” He states, his voice lower than Zack has ever heard it. Jason reluctantly breaks the kiss he’s sharing with Trini though his hands stay pressed against her hips. Kim pulls away from Zack, her eyes looking happier than before and she rests her head against his chest as he licks his lips. There’s something about the taste of Kim’s lipgloss that make him want to say screw talking about this and going back to kissing her. But Jason puts a stop to that by nodding and going to sit down, Trini still curled into his body, looking as though she fits perfectly.

Kim pauses before sitting down, looking around at the pit, her eyes lingering on the lines that Jason has scratched in and saying, “This isn’t the place for this.”

All of them nod, still wrapped around each other, making sure to always touch at least one other person as they make their way to their normal campfire spot.

It’s not quite dark yet, the colors streaking the sky making the others look absolutely gorgeous as the light bounces of their soft smiles and nervous eyes.

“So what was that?” Billy asks, Trini’s head resting on his chest as Jason’s arm is slung around his shoulder.

“Zack?” Jason asks and the black ranger looks up from where he’s studying the fire.

“ _I_ …” He struggles to find the words but they are all watching him, Kim’s body wrapped around him, anchoring him and reminding him that he’s not alone.

“I love all of you. I want to be with all of you in every way possible. But I haven’t thought beyond just this undefinable need for you all.”

He can feel Kim nod against his shoulder and she speaks, “I thought that, when I came in, when I saw you all. I _thought_ that.” she breaks off, gasping in a breath and sounding like she’s about to cry, “I. I thought that I was too broken for you.”

“That’s bullshit!” Trini forces out, breaking away from Jason and Billy to walk over to Kim and press a kiss against her forehead. The others nod, letting the girls have a moment to themselves as Zack can feel Kim shaking in his arms.

Jason finally brings the topic back to what this means, what the fact that they all want each other means for the future as he asks, “So, do we all want to each other?”

It’s an obvious question, blunt and direct but that’s a reason why Jason is a good leader, he asks the questions that need answering and this is the biggest one that they’ve ever faced. He sounds puzzled as he looks at Trini who breaks from Kim to simply say, “I’m bisexual but it took until I met all of you to realize that I’m still able and wanting to have romantic relationships with guys.”

They all nod, accepting this and knowing that when she wants to, Trini will tell them more.

“I want _this_.” Billy whispers, voice barely audible as he continues, “I want the way that you guys make me feel, like I’m wanted and worthy and needed. And, I think you are all too attractive and too good for me to not fall in love with you.”

In response the most emotions they’d witnessed from the blue ranger, Jason kisses him, his hands pulling Billy into his lap until he’s resting flush against their leader’s chest.

“I love you.” Jason whispers as he pulls back from the kiss. Both of them stand up and walk over to the cuddle pile of the others, Jason pressing a kiss to Kim’s head, mumbling “I love you.”

Kim, though, isn’t content with just that type of kiss from Jason and she grabs his arm and pulls him down so she’s able to kiss him on the lips softly, quickly. Zack doesn’t linger looking at the two of them because he hasn’t kissed Billy yet and he wants to, tilting his head back to accept a kiss from the blue ranger. When the two of them pull apart to breath, flushed and happy, Jason is pulling away from Trini, whispering “I love you” against her lips. Zack knows that it’s basically silent right now, as though the world is watching this with a soft sense of _rightness_.

Billy leans over to rest his head in Trini’s lap, his feet resting in Zack’s as Jason sits down next to him.

“Thank you.” The red ranger says, blushing softly as his eyes drop to Zack’s lips, puffy and glossy. Zack grins in response, his hand moving to tug on Jason’s hair and pull him closer, and just like they are kissing and like with the others, Zack can feel the way his body seems to jumpstart the minute Jason’s lips touch his. They break apart, foreheads touching and hands holding each other as Jason breathes out, “I love you.”

He knows, arms wrapped around his team as they softly trade kisses under the stars, that _together_ they are more.


	6. There's No Way We Can Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A snapshot of happiness after everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> seriously thank you thank you for reading and commenting and loving this verse so far. I didn't mean to step away for so long but school really starting ramping up as it's finals week this week. We've reached the end of the beginning of their story but trust me when I say that I've got many things planned.

It’s a few weeks after that night at the campfire and Jason knows that something has shifted between the team, something had to. He knows it in the way that Kim lights up more than he’s ever seen her when they all look at her as she talks, the way Trini touches them, reassuring herself that they are actually there, in the way Billy smirks at them whenever he sees the others in his clothes, the way Zack passes notes in class. He doesn’t really know what exactly he does, he thinks it might be the sappy grin he knows he gets when he looks at them and he knows he does it because Zack has taken to kissing him whenever he gets this look on his face. 

Zack ends up kissing him quite a bit. It’s gotten to be a problem as he knows that the other man’s grades can only take a very small hit, they’ve finally gotten him to start going to school regularly again. He’s on track to graduate at this point but if Jason is pulled into anymore closets during class to make out by the black ranger, it’s possible that they’re futures will be in jeopardy. It’s a problem, it’s a big problem because Jason can’t stop kissing Zack, it’s like the feeling of his boyfriend’s, at least that what Jason refers to the others as but they’ve never labeled it, lips against his have become an addiction. 

The missing class is slightly easier to explain to his parent than the hickies. The hickies that Zack left the first monday they’d all confessed their feelings has caused Kim to pull him aside during lunch and basically dust his entire neck with makeup. That had been one awkward experience that didn’t stop being awkward the more it kept happening. All that did was confirm Jason’s long held suspicion that Zack Taylor was a fucking menace. And deeply dangerous to Jason’s health. 

But god, with each passing day he finds himself falling more and more in love with his fellow rangers. He spots Kim walking out the school parking lot, Trini on her back. 

“Want me to take her?” Jason asks, noticing how Trini’s eyes are closed and her head is nestled in Kim’s shoulder in a similar way to how it usually is whenever the yellow ranger falls asleep on any of them. 

“Please.” Kim’s responds, positioning herself so they can simply slip Trini onto Jason’s back. “I don’t think she’s sleeping.” she mutters, softly, her hand stroking Trini’s hair as she looks at Jason intently. Jason nods, shifting his weight so Trini is balanced against her shoulder, her breath tickling his jaw. 

“Text the others, we’re skipping training and watching movies in my bedroom.” He commands, letting his red voice slip into his speech and Kim smirks. 

“Your bedroom, huh? I remember the last time we were in there. I won’t tell the others that we’re skipping training to make out but I will see you at your house.” Kim’s voice drips with seduction and Jason can barely stifle a groan.

“Kim.” He warns, looking at Trini’s arms wrapped around his neck and he knows from seeing Billy at lunch that the blue ranger is just as exhausted. 

Kim frowns, pressing a kiss to his cheek and saying, “hey, I was just teasing.”

“I know, babe.”

Kim turns back around, pulling out her phone as Jason walks towards his truck. A gift from the team though he knows it was really just Kim. Only the pink ranger has both the money and the selflessness to do such a thing. He remembers the day he’d received the truck and the smile on Kim’s face at his own joy, a proud utterly delighted grin, had made him want to kiss her until the daylight stopped burning and the stars had winked into existence. 

He hadn’t, that was still in their uncertain phrase but every time he thought about the future, he couldn’t help but want to recreate that first time between him and Kim, including and especially that dent in the hood. 

He opens the passenger door and sets Trini down in the seat, grinning fondly as the girl makes a soft noise, letting her head loll to the side. He gets in and starts driving, careful to mind the stop signs and stop lights as the one time he’d driven through a stop sign with the others he’d gotten a dressing down that still leaves his ears ringing. And this time he has quite precious cargo sitting beside him. He arrives at his house, just in time to his dad’s car pull into the driveway. Their relationship has gotten slightly better in the weeks since he’s become a ranger but he doesn’t think it will ever go back to the way it was before his accident. That was the worst part of it all, looking back, not losing football or his future or his brothers, but knowing that he has forever fucked up his relationship with his father. Knowing that even now, as he carries Trini inside all his dad can see for the first second he looks at him is the lost potential, the wasted opportunities, the echoes of who he used to be. 

As he sets Trini down on the couch, the beautiful girl curling into the pillows and looking so comfortable he feels the need to take a picture, he pulls out his phone and sees a text from Billy in the group chat that they are on the way. He shakes Trini awake, laughing slightly as the look of befuddlement on her face as she yawns and catches sight of him.

“How’d I get here?” She asks.

“You fell asleep on Kim and I suggested we skip training and just have a lazy day.” Jason explains, reaching down to help Trini to her feet. 

“I bet the others loved that.” Trini comments, grinning at him as she kisses him softly. 

“Hi.” She says, smiling against his lips.

“Not that I’m complaining but what was that for?”

“I haven’t had a chance to kiss you yet today.”

It’s as though that’s a fact of Trini’s universe now, that she gets to kiss him everyday and that makes him lean down and kiss her again, slower, softer. 

“Let’s go upstairs and you can pick a movie. That sound good T?”

“Sounds perfect.” She responds, rushing up to his room and flopping down on his bed.

“I know I literally say this every time but wow do you have a lot of red.”

Jason leaning against the door snorts and removes his shoes, scolding her, “take off your shoes, you heathen.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She responds, sticking her tongue out at him. He shakes his head, coming around and scooting her over so he can hold her in his arms.

“Since you’re here, you get to pick the movie.” He mutters, reaching down to grab his backpack and his laptop. Trini smirks, taking it from him and quickly moving to itunes.

“Jase, you have Sky High.” She declares, smirking and hitting him lightly on the shoulder. Jason blushes, shrugging as he responds, “it’s my feel good movie. Deal with it.”

“Sky High is great movie. Good choice.” She snuggles closer to him, “Do we wait for the others or just start.”

“I’m fairly sure they’ve all seen it and if they haven’t I refuse to be dating them anymore” Jason states, pressing play and letting the movie begin. Trini’s head falls against his pillows as she cracks up. 

He hears a knock on his door and sees Katie standing there, dressed in one of many power rangers merchandise that has found it’s way into the Scott Family home since that first battle, this time a yellow ranger t-shirt. 

“Yes?” He asks, turning to face his little sister. She peers her way in, waving hi to Trini before turning back to him and saying, “the other people you are dating are here. I heard mom asking the pretty one if they were staying for dinner. Are they?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure anyway kitten.” Jason answers, looking back at Trini who nods. Then he realizes what the first thing his sister had said.

“Kates, I’m not dating anyone.” He says and at that his sister lets out a peal of laughter that reminds him of his mom when she’s watching a Mel Brooks movie. 

“Jason, I’m 10, I’m not blind or deaf.”

He sighs, exasperated with his sister and he turns back to Trini, saying, “I’m going to grab the others, k.”

“I’ll be here, in your bed.” Trini responds, voice dripping with innuendo that she had to have picked up from Kim. If his sister wasn’t standing in his doorway listening to every word, he’d have responded with a thinly veiled promise. But that would compromise his frankly bullshit denial about dating them so he doesn’t say a word as the two of them head back downstairs. 

When they reach the bottom stair, Katie turns to Jason and pokes him in the chest, saying “You’ve been a lot happier lately so I’m fine with you dating these four people who are clearly far out of your league big brother.” 

Jason shakes his head, seeing her bound around the corner towards the couch and she is clearly taking advantage of the fact that she gets the tv for the next few hours. He nearly sighs as he sees Billy and Zack talking to his mom like they are old friends but Kim looks slightly uncomfortable, on edge. He wanders over, wrapping an arm around her waist and she leans into him. 

“You okay?” he asks, kissing her head. He loves being about a head taller than the girls because it means that forehead kisses have become a Thing. She leans into him, taking a deep breath. 

“Yeah, better now that you’re here. I love Zack and Billy but,” here she shivers in his arms, “parents just they look at me differently now and it’s my fault, like, I can’t do anything about and I don’t blame them but it still sucks.” She explains, a bitterness in her tone that Jason thinks only time will heal, it’s not any of them to heal Kim and it isn’t on her to heal them. 

“Come upstairs.” He whispers in her ear and she suddenly seems back to normal, turning around and looking up at him with an impish smirk.

“Jason Scott, your mother is in the room.” 

She shakes her head in mock shame that is broken when she takes the time to slap his ass as she heads upstairs. He laughs, grinning fondly as he hears Trini’s squeal from his room, shouting at Kim to get off of her. Billy and Zack turn around at his laugh and grin at him. 

“Shall we?” He asks, offering each of his boyfriend's an arm and leading the two of them upstairs, Billy talking excitedly about some new tech he’s building for their power suits. 

“Oh Sky High!” Zack says, jumping on the bed so he’s now laying with his head in Kim’s lap, her hands automatically going to stroke his hair, “Good choice, Crazy Girl.” 

Trini grins, letting out a wolf whistle as she glances up to see Jason has Billy pinned against his door and is kissing him, tongues and hands and all. Both boys turn around to glare at her but she just lounges against the pillow like she’s a queen. 

“Aww, I was enjoying the show.” Kim comments, letting out a cackle as Billy comes around the side of the bed and starts tickling her sides. Jason picks up a pillow from where it’s landed by his feet and throws it at Trini, hitting her in the head. And just like that the movie is forgotten and a pillow fight begins. They learn very quickly that Jason has incredibly deadly accuracy but that Billy can dodge nearly anything. The trio on the bed reclaim their places and watch while providing commentary of the fight between red and blue that ends with Billy abandoning any pretense of pillow fighting and wrestling Jason down to the ground.

“Ok, Billy, you win.” Jason says breathing heavily. And Trini takes that as her cue to ask the question she’s been wondering for about an hour.

“Hey Jase, did you not deny to Katie that you’re dating all of us?”

Jason grins, getting up from the floor and shakes his head, “No, I didn’t.”

And Jason really shouldn’t have gotten up from the floor because he ends up being tackled by four of the most beautiful people he’s ever met and smothered in kisses. 

Kim presses a kiss to his cheek, Zack to his lips, Trini to his other cheek and Billy to his forehead and Jason never thought he’d get this lucky. To be literally surrounded by love and happier than he’s felt in months. 

They pull away long enough to let him breath, Kim quickly snapping a photo of his blushing and disheveled self before they start kissing him again. Honestly, Jason knows that as he sinks against Billy, this could be a such a happy _beginning_ for them all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from a Happy Beginning by Jennifer Morrison and Colin O'Donoghue from the Once Musical soundtrack.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it. Please let me know. I love these kids a lot.
> 
> title comes from Unstoppable by the Score
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](http://the-ships-to-rule-them-all.tumblr.com)


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